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Story Questions/Answers from Karla

6/4/2014

Karla Locke is an author in the making. As a long time reader, she now explores the world of writing and has self-published her first short story, MY UNDOING. She lives in the beautiful and inspirational Pacific Northwest, surrounded by water, wildlife and writers. Her business, Armchair ePublishing, provides a service to authors in helping them prepare their stories for self-publishing. Being surrounded by so much talent made her creative juices explode and the craving to write burst out. You can find Karla's books on Amazon, she can be found on Twitter, and you should check out her page on Armchair ePublishing.

If you need help getting your books published you might want to see all the benefits of working with Karla and her husband Tony through their business at Armchair ePublishing.

1. Where do your story ideas start?
It springs from my imagination. Some start from a dream. An idea. When it happens, I just know it's right and I go with the flow.

2. What do you write first? (beginning, middle, end)
I find I have to start with the beginning, the seed for a story. I have to know where to start.

3. Character development, do you do anything special?
I find I have to know their name first. I can't picture them or get to know who they are, until I know their name.

4. Where do you do your writing?
At home mostly. I need quiet and alone time in order to focus - to get into the zone. Once inside the zone, the characters, the setting, the story take me away and the story unfolds as my fingers type.

5. A story usually springs from an idea, a character or a scene. Once that idea is planted - how do you make it grow?
Once an idea for a story has started, making it grow takes times and imagination. Some things just come to me naturally. When it is right, I know it. Other times, especially if I am struggling with something in the story, I might be inspired by a book I am reading, or a movie, and it will help me solve the issue. Talking it out with my critique partners in my writing group also helps.

6. Do you write in Chronological order or do you bounce around within the manuscript?
I tend to write chronologically. Occasionally a scene will pop into my imagination and I will write it down as an outline and save it until it is time to incorporate it into a story.

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Story Questions/Answers from Hema

30/3/2014

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Hemlata Vasavada (Hema) was born in Jodhpur, India, where she earned a master’s in philosophy. She immigrated to the United States in 1968 with her husband and their (then) one-year-old daughter. She is a member of Skagit Valley Writers League, where she has held offices of president, vice president and treasurer. Her articles and humor essays have been published in magazines and newspapers. Her novel, The Cascade Winners, set in Skagit County, will be in print soon. You can visit Hema's website here.

1. I get my story ideas through events in the news or experiences of others. For instance, my novel, The Cascade Winners, came from what I heard from my husband and his colleagues about their work experiences on the oil rigs and in the engineering office. That, along with mergers and takeover in the industries, bonds of friendship, and what if the friends could win a lottery.... created the seeds of my novel.

2. I write the beginning first and follow the story in a chronological order.

3. For my characters, I try to make a chart of their birth dates, family, physical attributes, likes, dislikes, education, jobs.

4. I do my writing at my desk in a corner upstairs.

5. A story springs from an idea, an image or some event. The idea doesn't grow immediately. Sometimes I push it aside because I want to finish the project I'm working on. Once in a while, it persists and I start working on it. For example, after September 11, 2001, my husband and I were talking about where Osama bin Laden could be. We thought he could disguise himself as a Sikh ( a religion where people don't cut their hair) and cross the border to India. Instead of bin Laden, I started with a young man, Ahmed. The short story became, "The Accidental Terrorist."

6. Yes, I write in chronological order.

My personal note to Hema. May your journey to eastern Washington be joyful and this new phase in your life amazing. All of us at SVWL will miss you.

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Story Questions/Answers from Heidi

23/3/2014

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Heidi Thomas is a member of Women Writing the West, Professional Writers of Prescott, and honorary lifetime member of the Skagit Valley Writers League. She is an avid reader of all kinds of books, enjoys the sunshine and hiking in north-central Arizona, where she writes, edits, and teaches memoir and fiction writing classes. To learn more about Heidi please visit her website.

1. Where do your story ideas start? My “Dream” series started from a spark of family history—my dad telling me that my grandmother had ridden wild, bucking steers in rodeos during the 1920's. That stayed in the back of my mind until many years later, when I decided to return to my first love of writing—fiction. Thus, Cowgirl Dreams, Follow the Dream, and the new Dare to Dream (coming out in May) were born. Plus, a non-fiction book about the old-time cowgirls of Montana, Cowgirl Up! will also be published sometime this year. All that from one tiny bit of information!

2. What do you write first? (beginning, middle, end) I usually start at the beginning, probably a hold-over from my journalism days to come up with a lead and go from there.

3. Character development, do you do anything special? When I first started writing I received feedback that my characters were “flat”, and I struggled with that until I started taking classes and reading lots of “how-to” books and articles. Emotion and conflict are key—what is the character feeling when X happens? And there has to be lots of conflict and obstacles to overcome.

4. Where do you do your writing? All on my computer. Sometimes I’ll jot down ideas in a notebook as I’m sitting out in nature, being re-charged, but the crafting comes at the computer.

5. A story usually springs from an idea, a character or a scene. Once that idea is planted - how do you make it grow? It’s always good to ask “What if?” You have a character who cares about something or someone, what if something happens to threaten that something or someone? How does the character react and how does he/she overcome whatever obstacles you throw at him/her? I do lots of research too, since my books are historical fiction—events that really happened can help give ideas to develop your own storyline.

6. Do you write in Chronological order or do you bounce around within the manuscript? I usually write in chronological order, but I made a discovery that helps if I get stuck in one place. Perhaps I know what I want to write at some point in the future, but don’t know how to get from point A to point B. If I go ahead and write that scene in the future (even the ending sometimes!) that will often give me ideas on how to bridge that gap.

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Story Questions/Answers from Rob

9/3/2014

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Growing up in the Pacific Northwest, Robert L. Slater wanted to be an astronaut or a rock star. At 42, he gave up those dreams to become a writer of science fiction and fantasy, where he can pretend to be both.

After nearly 20 years as a schoolteacher, and 35 as a teenager, he is beginning to have a hint of insight into that time known as young-adulthood. He has been in that hood a long time! Check out his website and he will be doing a release party at Village Books in Bellingham, WA on Friday March 14, 2014.

1. Where do your story ideas start?
Who knows? Well, many places: dreams, songs, off-handed comments heard over dinner at a restaurant written on cocktail napkins. It’s stereotypical, but it’s actually accurate. I have many odd story ideas written on envelopes, napkins, receipts and the sides of boxes that happened to be sitting next to me on a road trip.

2. What do you write first? (beginning, middle, end)
I often write the pre-beginning first. This is what happens before the story begins, also known as the preceding action. This is, of course, usually cut, only to be talked about in some hopeful future by high school and college English teachers.

3. Character development, do you do anything special?
Not consistently. The most important thing is to hear their voice. That usually tells me a lot about what they’re going to do and how. When they've got a voice they can tell me.

4. Where do you do your writing?
All over the place literally and figuratively. My novel was written in my classroom at Windward High School, Whatcom and Bellingham Libraries, Greene’s Corner across the street from my school, Wood’s coffee shops, New York Pizza, in my car, on a plane, in my bedroom and in Wilson Motor’s waiting room.

5. A story usually springs from an idea, a character or a scene.
Once that idea is planted - how do you make it grow? I actually need three things including the end. Sometimes those things are titles, a central character, a setting, or the plot. I don’t start stories any more that I don’t have an idea for an ending in mind.

6. Do you write in Chronological order or do you bounce around within the manuscript?
Yes. ;-)

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Story Questions/Answers from Terry

2/3/2014

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Terry Persun holds a Bachelor’s of Science as well as an MA in Creative Writing. He has worked as an engineer, has been the Editor-in-Chief of several technology journals, and is now marketing consultant for technical and manufacturing companies. Seven of his novels have been published. His science fiction novel “Cathedral of Dreams” won a ForeWord Reviews Book of the Year Finalist Award, and his historical novel, “Sweet Song” won a Silver IPPY Award. His latest science fiction space opera is “Hear No Evil”. To see more of Terry's work visit his website.

1. Where do your story ideas start?
My story ideas start in different ways. They can start with a character who I want to write about, someone with particular problems. Or they can start with the problem and I have to find a character to fit the problem. Sometimes, it starts with an idea, a line I read or heard, a commercial…anything. I’ve learned to mine as much from life as possible. Stories are everywhere if we only let them in.

2. What do you write first? (beginning, middle, end)
Since I often let story ideas percolate for months or even years, it’s hard to answer this question. But, I can say that once I start writing I almost always write from beginning to end, even if I sketch a scene out in my head, I tend not to write it down and then use it completely. So, most often, I’d say start to finish.

3. Character development, do you do anything special?
Most of my novels are very character driven, so this is a great question for me. I have to live with a character for a while before I can write about them. During this time, I’m often thinking (as I go through my day), “What would my character think of that? What would my character do in this case? With this kind of play, I learn more and more about my character and why they are the way they are. Then when I start writing, I know my character fairly well. Now, with secondary characters and minor characters, I keep notes while I’m writing so that I don’t forget what I’ve created. This often comes with short back story pieces that kind-of explain an action or response.

4. Where do you do your writing?
I have a home office. It’s actually a potting shed that I had refinished. I have to go outside and into the house to use the bathroom or to eat lunch, etc. But, by having my office away from the house—it still faces the courtyard—it’s easier to be left alone to my work.

5. A story usually springs from an idea, a character or a scene. Once that idea is planted - how do you make it grow?
Similar to what I explained in the first question. I allow whatever the seed of the piece is to roam around in my head sometimes for years. As they roll around, they accumulate other pieces of the story, other characters, other events, etc. Once the seed has grown enough, I start writing.

6. Do you write in Chronological order or do you bounce around within the manuscript?
Chronological order. Start to finish, for the manuscript. This doesn’t mean that I don’t use flashback or short back story pieces, though. Only on rare occasions might I actually write something down, but I seldom use it word-for-word when I get to that section because the story has changed by then and the piece isn't a perfect fit. That’s why I try not to let that happen. I don’t want to get to that section and be so enamored over the piece I wrote ahead of time that it’s too precious to cut or change.

Thank you for the opportunity to answer your questions. I always enjoy it. ~Terry Persun

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